RESTORATION TRAGEDIES HEROIC PLAYS BLANK VERSE TRAGEDIES ‘SHE’ TRAGEDIES

RESTORATION TRAGEDIES

HEROIC PLAYS

BLANK VERSE TRAGEDIES

‘SHE’ TRAGEDIES

INTRODUCTION:

The Restoration age (1660-1700) marks a new development in the field of poetry, drama and prose. Drama was revived with new vigor and zeal by the writers like John Dryden and William Congreve.There was a complete break from the Elizabethan tradition in drama. In the field of comedy,Congreve gave birth to the Comedy of Manners and in the field of tragedy; Dryden tried and developed a new type of Heroic Tragedy and ‘She’ Tragedy during Restoration age. John Dryden and Thomas Otway were the masters of writing Heroic and ‘She’ Tragedies.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF HEROIC PLAYS:

1.  Love and velour- subject matters of the heroic tragedies.

2.  Highly exaggerated actions and events.

3.  The characters are of superhuman heights women possesses immortal beauty and men are brave and noble.

4.  The speeches are high sounding and the diction is grand.

5.  The purpose of heroic plays is didactic and it always teaches virtues to mankind.

6.  The action of the play takes place in far off, distant places like India.

7.  Heroic couplet is used instead of blank verse.

 

MAJOR DRAMATISTS OF HEROIC TRAGEDIES:

John Dryden (1631-1700) was the first and foremost exponent of the heroic plays.  He wrote five such plays.

 

1.  The Indian emperor

2.  Titanic love

3.  Conquest of Granada part 1 and 2

4.  Aurangzeb

 

In all Dryden's heroic tragedies we find that love and honor are the main themes.Heroine possesses dazzling beauty and heroes are of superhuman powers. The tone is exaggerated but there is lack of patience in these plays.

 

BLANK VERSE TRAGEDIES:

Besides this plays, John Dryden also wrote some blank verse tragedies following Shakespeare. His play‘All For Love’ is a nice example of Blank Verse Tragedy. It is based on Shakespeare's ‘Antony and Cleopatra’.Another dramatist who wrote blank verse play was Otway. He produced the play ‘The Orphan’.

 

THOMAS OTWAY (1652-1685)

Otway also contributed greatly in the field of heroic drama by producing following popular plays.

 

1.  Don Carlos

2.  The orphan

3.  Venice preserve

4.  Tragedy on a grand scale (his last play)

 

Otway’s ‘Venice Preserve’ is a masterpiece in this field.He is known for skillful presentation of characters in his plays.

 

‘SHE’ TRAGEDY:

Soon there was a decline in heroic and blank verse tragedy and a new type of drama emerged which was known as ‘She’Tragedy. It is called so because all the masculine qualities of a hero were introduced in the heroine in such play the hero almost vanishes and a woman character dominates the entire action of the drama.

 

CONCLUSION:

In short, it can be said that Restoration age produced a variety of tragic plays such as Heroic Tragedy, Blank  VerseTraged and ‘She’ Tragedy. John Dryden and Thomas Otway were the two main practitioners who made significant contribution to popularize such plays.

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